Dirt

I read a book once that said there is a real lack of dirt in the average American diet.  The author says we need to have a little dirt on our hands so that we get it into our mouths on "accident" (ick), which sends it to our digestive system, keeping us healthy.

If that's true, I think our family is going to enjoy many years of incredible health...

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Talking about dirt reminds me of a Microbiology class I took once, back when I was under the misguided notion that I'd like to be a nurse (body fluids = not).  The course was fascinating to me, to realize that there is a world - a moving, living, breathing world - that we cannot see. 

For our labwork, we put a drop of water from a pond under the microscope and it was incredible how many creepy, wiggly things can live in a drop of pond water.  Ew, thinking of those creepy, wiggly things entering our gut isn't so appetizing.  Gross. 

But I'm not telling the kids about that just yet.  I kind of like them dirty. 

Charlotte Mason, a 19th century educator, suggested that children get four hours of outdoor time every day.  Of course, there weren't the necessities like X-Box and computers then, so perhaps she'd revise it to 3:47 hours for our modern sakes. 

I don't know if our family meets the recommended 4 hours - or 3:47 hours - but I do manage to lure the children away from the electronic magnets every afternoon and give them free rein to get as dirty as they please. 

That's what water hoses are made for anyway, right?

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When My Man has a day off work, we also lure him into coming outside with us.  Here he is, working so very hard in the tree fort...

I'm not sure what he's working on.  It must require a lot of thinking.

Hmm, he looks too clean.  Maybe I'll just have to put the dirt in his soup instead. 

Photos by Lori Seaborg, March 13, 2008